"Promises aren't enough," said Minister Katarina Barley after meeting with Facebook's European management team. Barley said that users should expect more transparency and tighter controls in the future.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Nietfeld
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German Justice Minister Katarina Barley met with Facebook's European leadership on Monday, including public policy chief Richard Allan. The talks were the latest development in the fallout of revelations that data analysis firm Cambridge Analyticawas able to cull information on millions of Facebook users without their knowledge.
Barley said that in the future, Facebook's guiding principle in Europe must be "privacy by design," and that promises of tighter controls were not sufficient – perhaps a reference to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's vague vow to increase privacy during a CNN interview last week.
To that end, Barley said that algorithms would be made more transparent, and that the social media giant would have to inform every user whose data was misused either by Cambridge Analytica, or in a similar fashion.
"Facebook admitted abuses and excesses in the past and gave assurances that measures since taken mean they can't happen again," she said. "But promises aren't enough. In future we will have to regulate companies like Facebook much more strictly."
Following revelations that Facebook user data was swiped to help influence the US election, five men are under the spotlight. As those linked to the scandal continue to trade blame, DW looks at what role each one played.
Image: picture alliance/AP/dpa/E. Vucci
The faces behind the scandal
Facebook has been slammed for failing to protect the data of more than 50 million users. Their data was used to further conservative political projects, including Brexit and Donald Trump's presidential victory. From a former White House strategist to a Canadian whistle blower, here are the people involved in what some are describing as Facebook's largest data breach.
Image: picture-alliance/empics/D. Lipinski
Whistleblower who hacked Facebook
A 28-year-old Canadian data analytics expert first blew the whistle on the scandal to Britain’s Observer newspaper. Christopher Wylie claims he set up the project for Cambridge Analytica and helped forge ties with Donald Trump’s campaign. He revealed that millions of profiles were hijacked to influence the election. Cambridge Analytica says Wylie has been "misrepresenting himself and the company."
Image: Reuters/H. Nicholls
Cambridge Analytica boss
Cambridge Analytica CEO, Alexander Nix, was one of several senior executives filmed by an undercover reporter from Britain's Channel 4. Nix claimed credit for Donald Trump's 2016 electoral victory. He also said his political consultancy could feed untraceable messages on social media. Executives bragged that the firm could use misinformation, bribery and even prostitutes to help win elections.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Charisius
Psychology academic behind Facebook app
A Moldovan-born Cambridge University researcher developed a personality app that harvested the personal data of 30 million Facebook users. Aleksandr Kogan said he passed the information to Cambridge Analytica, under assurances that what he was doing was legal. But now he says the research firm and Facebook are scapegoating him over the scandal.
Image: University of Cambridge
Facebook chief was 'deceived' over data use
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was criticized for waiting for four days to respond to the scandal. His social media network claims to be the victim of the whole saga, insisting it was unaware of how the data was being used. Still, Zuckerberg has been summoned by the British and European parliaments, while US consumer regulators have launched an investigation into the firm's use of personal data.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh
Trump strategist with Cambridge links
Trump's former strategist Steve Bannon helped develop the populist, anti-Washington message that helped the billionaire win the White House. A founding member of right-wing outlet Breitbart News, Bannon is a former board member of Cambridge Analytica and brought in wealthy businessman Robert Mercer as a financial backer. He left the White House last August and Trump has since cut him off.
Image: picture alliance/AP/dpa/E. Vucci
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The social media giant has found itself at the center of a public outcry after it was revealed that data research firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested data from 50 million users, ostensibly to influence votes such as the Brexit referendum in the UK and the 2016 US presidential election.
The news broke on March 17 when Cambridge Analytica co-founder Christopher Wylie gave a whistleblower's account of the company's practices to the New York Times and Britain's Observer, detailing how, beginning in 2013, the company preyed upon user's "inner demons" to send them targeted political advertisements.
Cambridge Analytica's 'Snake Oil'
However, more information has come to light showing that Cambridge Analytica is not the sole culprit in the scandal. Facebook knew for two years that the data mining firm had used the data from a personality quiz set up Cambridge University Psychology Professor Aleksander Kogan to cull information not only from the 270,000 users who downloaded his app, but also from all the friends in their network.
Secondly, massive data-exporting missions of this kind were easily done using Facebook until 2015, something the company knew full well. In 2011, the US Federal Trade Commission issued an excoriating report, accusing the company of misleading users over how their information was shared.
According to media historian Siva Vaidhyanathan, Facebook shut down it's controversial data-sharing practices in 2015 due to increased pressure from US regulators. However, Vaidhyanathan has cautioned against using Cambridge Analytica for the victory of President Donald Trump or the Brexit campaign – calling the data research firm's promises that it could sway election outcomes "snake oil."
"Cambridge Analytica tries to come off as a band of data wizards. But they are simple street magicians hoping to fool another mark and cash another check," he wrote in Slate, saying Facebook was using the other company as a scapegoat to cover up its own wrongdoing.
The companies and people unfriending Facebook
A number of companies have said they are either abandoning Facebook or pressing pause of their use of the social network. But the company said it hasn't seen a meaningful number of people ready to #deletefacebook.
Image: Colourbox/Maxx-Studio
Playboy
Playboy Enterprises said it is closing its Facebook pages as the scandal surrounding the social network grows. Playboy said the privacy scandal was the final straw after long having had difficulty posting to the site due to Facebook's strict rules to keep nudity off the platform. Some 25 million people interacted with Playboy's Facebook pages.
Image: Getty Images/J. Kempin
SpaceX and Tesla
Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur behind electric car manufacturer Tesla and rocket producer SpaceX, wrote on Twitter he would delete both companies' Facebook accounts. The decision appeared to be spontaneous after Musk wrote he "didn't realize" a Facebook account for SpaceX even existed. The accounts of both companies each had around 2.6 million followers before they were deleted.
Image: Reuters/T. Baur
Mozilla
The company behind popular web browser Firefox said in a statement that it was "pressing pause" on its Facebook advertising. But it said it would not delete its Facebook account. Instead, the company would stop posting regular updates on the account. "When Facebook takes stronger action in how it shares customer data ... we'll consider returning," it said.
Image: LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images
Commerzbank
Commerzbank, one of Germany's largest banks, said it was pausing its Facebook advertising. The head of the company's brand management told German business newspaper "Handelsblatt:" "We're taking a break with our advertising on Facebook. Data protection and maintaining a good brand are important to us." He added that the company would wait and see before it made any further decisions.
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WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton
The co-founder of messaging service WhatsApp, Brian Acton, wrote in a March 20 post on Twitter: "It is time. #deletefacebook." Acton became a billionaire after selling WhatsApp to Facebook in 2014. He recently invested in a rival messaging app, Signal, after leaving WhatsApp in 2017. Acton had a history with Facebook before 2014. He unsuccessfully interviewed for a job at the company in 2009.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gerten
Sonos
The US-based speaker manufacturer said it was pulling its advertising from Facebook and other social media platforms, including Facebook-owned Instagram. Sonos said recent revelations "raised questions" about whether Facebook had done enough to safeguard user privacy. But it said it would not completely "abandon" Facebook because it was an "incredibly effective" service.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Sonos
Dr. Oetker's out then back in
The German food corporation let its Twitter followers vote on whether it should delete its Facebook account. "We'll delete our Facebook page for 1,000 retweets," it wrote in a March 21 post. It was quickly retweeted over 1,000 times, leading the company to deactivate its Facebook page. But it reactivated the account a day later, writing on Twitter that it "couldn't be" without Facebook.
Image: Dr. Oetker
Facebook responds
Asked about the decision of some companies to leave the social network, Facebook said: "Most of the businesses we've spoken with this week are pleased with the steps we've outlined to better protect people's data, and they have confidence that we'll respond to these challenges and become a better partner and company as a result."
